Recently, the team of Food nutrition and functional foods, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, revealed the key metabolites of B. subtilis BSNK-5 fermented soymilk during fermentation based on non-targeted metabolomics. The relevant research results were published in the journal of LWT-Food Science and Technology (IF 4.952) with the title of “Metabolomics analysis of soymilk fermented by Bacillus subtilis BSNK-5 based on UHPLC-Triple-TOF-MS”.

At present, low-salt, low-sugar, high-nutrient-dense plant-based foods have become the fashion pursued by consumers. BSNK-5-fermented soymilk could fulfill today’s advanced food needs, and had the functions of preventing cardiovascular disease, regulating intestinal flora, and improving immunity. The in-depth analysis of metabolites in BSNK-5-fermented soymilk can provided a theoretical foundation for the development of dietary prevention products and functional foods for the elderly for chronic disease people in later stages.

This study systemically showed that the metabolites were gradually enriched with the extension of fermentation time and stabilized in the fermentation anaphase. In total, 289 differential metabolites were identified as the major chemical components, and they were distributed into 14 categories, mainly involving in three types of metabolites, peptides and amino acids, lipids, and flavonoids. Compared with unfermented soymilk, the fermented soymilk enriched antihypertensive peptides with ACE inhibitory activity, including Ala-Pro, Leu-Trp, Pro-Phe. And the content of tetrapeptide (Ac-SDKP), resisted to endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress, was also significantly increased. The fermentation of BSNK-5 can effectively promote the conversion of isoflavones in soymilk from glycosides to aglycones, up-regulate the levels of aglycon-type flavonoids such as daidzein and apigenin, and enhance the antioxidant properties of soymilk. Additionally, the soybean saponin and sphingosine inducing apoptosis in lipids, were significantly reduced during fermentation, which increased the safety of soymilk. BSNK-5 fermentation increased the digestion, absorption and utilization rate of soymilk, but also significantly improved its nutritional quality and functional properties. It is beneficial to the development of nutrient-dense foods and has good application prospects.

This work was supported by the grants from the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-04), the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS-ASTIP-2021-IFST-03). The first author of this work is Gao Yaxin, a doctoral student of the Institute of Science and Technology, and the co-corresponding authors are Prof. Fengzhong Wang and Assoc. Prof. Shuying Li.

Fig. 1 Metabolite profiles of B. subtilis BSNK-5 fermented soymilk

Link to the paper: Metabolomics analysis of soymilk fermented by Bacillus subtilis BSNK-5 based on UHPLC